No Going Back On IPPIS, FG Tells ASUU

FG Replies ASUU, Insists On IPPIS

The Federal Government has told the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that there is no going back on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) for workers.

This was stated on Thursday by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed at the budget defence session organised by the Senate Committee on Finance in Abuja.

Naija News recalls ASUU had opposed plans by the federal government to ‘impose, the Integrated Personnel Payroll System (IPPIS) on its members, with the union already mobilizing its members for action against the government.

The Chairman of the University of Ibadan (UI), Professor Deji Omole, on Sunday said ASUU was not against accountability but would resist any attempt by the government to violate existing laws and autonomy of the university.

Recall President Muhammadu Buhari had during the 2020 budget presentation in the National Assembly on October 8, ordered that all public sector workers must register for the IPPIS to save cost and fight corruption.

The IPPIS, which was introduced in 2007, is aimed at centralising payroll and payment systems, facilitating convenient staff remuneration with minimal wastage as well as aiding manpower training and budgeting.

The Finance Minister, Ahmed, said, “The resistance to the IPPIS is misplaced as far as I am concerned because there is no agency of government that must resist it. It must be treated with utmost importance. The universities and some medical institutions have some peculiarities.

“For instance, a medical officer in the public service can consult in different hospitals, but he should still have one primary point of employment.

“A lecturer, based on the approval given by the minister, is also allowed to lecture in more than one universities. That, however, does not mean that he should feature in all the institutions as a staff member.

“At best, there would be special allowances that would be due to them for those extra-work. The allowances should, however, not be included in the payroll.

“We have been discussing with them and we are arranging peculiar allowances for them too. This is to make sure that the extra-work they do, according to the limits that is allowed, is provided for in the payroll.

“They have understood now that their concerns would be addressed and they have started working with us. As we speak, the Accountant General staff are on the field trying to capture the last batch of the staff into the IPPIS.”

The Minister disclosed the Federal Government had been able to save about N250bn from the exercise.

She said, “The savings would be more when we integrate the HI component of the IPPIS which is controlled by the Head of Service.

“It is a record of staff. When a worker retires from the service, the system will automatically log him out.

“At the moment, we await instructions before we log out retired workers. Some people have retired but they are still on the payroll. There are lots of cleaning up that we have to do. We have been working with the Head of Service to fast-track that integration.

“So far, we have been able to put most Federal Government agencies on the platform. It helps us to control those that were not supposed to be on the payroll.”

She further noted that the government was still discussing with few institutions that are still resisting the IPPIS.